Elemental Managing Director
We are on the hunt for someone VERY specific. There is ONE person out there that is ready to roll up the sleeves, have some fun and join one of, if not the, fastest growing funeral home in the country. Please don’t stop reading because we aren’t in your city. For you – that ONE person that checks all the boxes and moves us to weep at the perfection of your fit with us – we will help with relocation costs and we are fully open to discussion on compensation. This job is in Seattle, but we will remove as many barriers as possible for you – The Funeral Unicorn.
We are looking for a licensed funeral director (or possibly a current intern that is nearing completion of requirements) that has management/supervisory experience. Note, that is not “I once was a shift lead in high school at the fast food restaurant.” You have had some meaningful leadership experience guiding a team.
This position will, ultimately be responsible for hiring, training and maintaining a top performing team. It will require a basic understanding of financials that, with mentorship, will develop to a deep understanding of managerial finance and how it applies to growth.
This position will require that you are evangelical in Elemental’s mission to further The Movement and The Order’s goals. It will require a strategic and analytical side to you that allows for a critical look at process and procedure to always be developing better and more efficient ways to help families and make the experience better for everyone. The process of continual improvement is one that takes a complete commitment to the client and dedication to change to meet those needs.
What it is not – This is not an embalming position. You will very rarely have any contact with the decedents. This is not grief therapy. This is not a home funeral position. This is not a doula position. It has nothing to do with forensics. There is no sage smudge or candles, unless that’s your thing for your office. You are not a spiritual guide. You will not be doing removals and you will not get to see all the hot messes of the medical examiner. You will not be working services and you will not be driving a hearse. This is not traditional service, in any sense of the term. We avoid black clothing.
What it is – This job is funeral directing on a high level and a fast pace. It is removing obstacles for families and over-delivering on your commitments to them. You will get a lot of hugs and uncountable thank yous because the families that we serve think that the way we do it is magical. It is a sympathetic ear and a practical voice and a damn fine attention to detail.
It is all the things you currently do as a funeral director – death certificates, permits and authorizations. But you’ve never seen it done this way. It is work hard, play harder. It is creating a team, a supportive environment and being a loving co-partner to your peers. It’s a commitment to joy and work life balance.
It is managing a team that is committed to our vision and helping work on the strategic direction of the company. It is an overwhelming desire to change an industry that has put quarterly profits first and families second. It is a blend of the daily tasks of funeral directing with the added exciting challenge of helping to steer a startup. Something that only happens once in a funeral career to a handful of people.
Hours and pay: We try to keep all funeral directing to 9-5 as much as possible. The on call funeral does not do removals and does not go into the office on weekends. After hours calls are usually price shopper questions or follow-ups with a family that has had a loss. The pay is salary based on experience and agreed scope with a performance component. We aren’t trying to be cagey on this one, it depends on what you bring to the company that will decides, for a variety of reasons, what your pay will be. We are at the top end of pay in our market for our team.
Requirements:
Education: Minimum of an AA Degree.
License: Ideally you will be fully licensed. If not, you are darn close. We cannot wait for someone to complete a two year internship. If you are from out of state, your employment will be dependent on your ability to acquire a Washington State funeral director’s license (no embalming).
Experience: Your funeral experience can range from years at a Houston based company to a couple at a mom and pop. Whatever your experience is, you need to be willing to take the foundation of that learning and set the rest of it aside. You will not be taking anyone into a casket showroom, but you need to understand the mechanics of traditional funeral service, the legal framework of your craft, and the nuances of working through occasionally difficult family mechanics at death.
Key Skills Desired:
- Impeccable customer service – you can anticipate needs and read situations like a Gypsy tarot reader stacked with a crystal ball. Your capacity to outperform expectations makes Nordstrom employees weep in shame. Your ability to tell someone “no,” in a way that makes them think that it was their idea, is honed to a laser sharp edge.
- Phone skills – you can disarm a grizzly bear armed to the teeth with pepper spray and hunting knives with your charm on the phone. You connect as well with people on the phone as well as you do when you are with them in person.
- Outreach – the ability to make friends when you connect with people in other industries and roles is scary. It is like using the force, you never show ID and they just want to barbeque with you. You understand connecting other people is as important as being connected yourself.
- Evangelizing – coupled with your remarkable connection capacity, you inspire the people you meet with your enthusiasm in how Elemental is changing the industry, one family at a time. They can’t imagine sending a dead person anywhere else when you’re done with them.
- Critical analysis – you take high stakes/difficult situations and apply critical analysis to outcomes like a NASA engineer. Working through problems is child’s play for you.
- Financial prowess – You don’t think that “managerial accounting” are dirty words because you know that they have nothing to do with tax or finance. You see the levers, and you pull them.
If the finance part above scares you, that’s alright. That one can be trained. The rest… cannot. If you meet the minimum requirements but are a little unsure on some of the key skills, we encourage you to apply – only if you are currently bouncing up and down with excitement reading this job positing.
To apply for this job, you must complete this application and submit a resume to [email protected] with funeral unicorn in the subject line.
We will also require an essay from you explaining what you are passionate about outside of funeral/work and how it has intersected with your funeral career. What does it mean to to you to be passionate about this thing? Attention to detail is key, so it is worth noting that if you do not submit all three items that have been requested, your application will not be considered. If you’ve read through this whole thing and just can’t sit still, we absolutely need to hear from you.